Antan Malika
Antan Malika (13 BBY—) Antan Malika is the son of Jalia Malika, the Republic Intelligence officer who was largely responsible for thwarting the attempt on Bothan Ambassador Setek's life at the Galactic Peace Conference on Chandrila. His mother has never revealed the name of Malika's father to anyone, but it is assumed that he was a fellow Republic officer. Malika was raised by his maternal grandparents; Retired Republic officers Captain Mary-Hall Malika and Commander Owen Malika, as his mother felt honor bound to take on a dangerous task and did not want to jeopardize her son's well-being. Antan's grandfather was a respected engineer who steadfastly refused to be promoted beyond the level of Commander, fearing that a captaincy of his own would be too time consuming and keep him away from his beloved engine room too long. He was already 42 and, he thought, a confirmed bachelor when he met the fiery young Mary-Hall; his new captain aboard the Republic Nebulon-B Frigate Wanderer. Although she was nearly 14 years younger than he was, he found himself falling in love with her almost immediately. Believing that she could never care for him and that he would end up making a fool of himself if he remained aboard the Wanderer as her engineering officer, he requested a transfer six months to another vessel. She called him to her office and demanded to know the reason for his transfer request. Owen had never seen his captain so angry as she was at that moment. He fumbled semi-incoherently through a few lame attempts at explaining why he felt he should leave the ship, trying to avoid the real reason. Eventually, as she kept ranting at him and pushing all his explanations aside, he grew angry himself and told her. Much to his everlasting surprise, she started to smile and threw herself into his arms... The rest, as they say, is history. There was never any question in anyone's mind that Malika would follow in his family's footsteps. His main field of study at the naval academy was engineering, but he found law and literature of great interest too and so ended up learning a great deal about all three. He finished out the academy in the top 2% of his class; earning a degree in law as well as engineering. His first posting was as an engineer on the System Patrol Craft Auriga, in the Corellian Defense Force followed by a transfer to the New Republic Star Destroyer ''Reprisal'' where he served as and currently remains an operations officer on the bridge. He requested and was granted a Leave of Absence (LOA) from that post when a friend of his from his academy days, Commander Olin Garn, was brought before the New Republic Disciplinary Board for Court Martial on charges of treason, sabotage and attempted assassination. He was one of the few who believed in his innocence and quickly volunteered his services to him as his advocate. Through a thorough examination and explication of evidence he won the case and discovered the identity of the true culprit in the process. Winning such a high profile case put him in demand as a JAG and his leave of absence from the Reprisal grew into a transfer. He spent nearly three years as a judge advocate before his career again took an unexpected turn, this time into diplomacy. While on his way to a case in the Tatooine System, his shuttle was fired upon and boarded by a group of Black Sun pirates in the Nideran System. The Black Sun, Corporate Sector Authority, and the Corellian Mining Authority all had mining concerns operating in the area. There had recently been a lot of suspicious goings-on; unexplained equipment failure, shipments disappearing, claim markers being moved... Naturally, instead of trying to get to the bottom of the matter peacefully, the situation had degenerated to the point where the various groups were squabbling amongst themselves. The Black Sun had mistaken Malika's transport for one of the Corellian’s vessels and had forcibly boarded it in an attempt to find "evidence"... of what, they weren't quite sure. When their error was brought home to them, they were as apologetic as the Black Sun could be expected to be and towed his shuttle to a Tatooine repair platform for repairs, generously paid for by them. As fate would have it, the Nideran system was the same system where all representatives of all the mining companies had gathered to try to resolve the conflict before they were drawn into open warfare with one another. They hadn't made much progress and tensions were running high. When they discovered Malika had a background in law, they sent a communiqué to the New Republic asking for the loan of his services. New Republic was naturally reluctant to have someone so inexperienced handle negotiations that could potentially have such far-reaching consequences, but the miners were adamant in their selection and refused to accept any of the alternate candidates suggested by NRHQ. It took some time, and Malika’s case in the Tatooine system ended up being assigned to someone else, but he eventually discovered that the culprits were not any of the mining companies. Rather it was a group of Bith 'businessmen' who had purchased a huge supply of ore and were hoping to cause enough trouble to shut down mining operations in the system... thereby causing the ore prices to skyrocket and ensuring themselves a high profit. He took the opportunity presented by being the hero of the moment and having all the former enemies in good humor with one another to get their representatives to sign the agreement that has since become well-known as the Nideran Accords. Malika spent the next two years in the diplomatic service, but recently asked for a transfer back to active service in the fleet. He missed his ship, and most of all, missed defending the New Republic from the indomitable Imperials. NRHQ reluctantly processed his request and placed him back aboard the Reprisal, as 2nd Deck Officer. He is currently a bridge operator aboard this vessel. Malika, Antan Malika, Antan